Strength Behaviors of Remolded Hydrate-Bearing Marine Sediments in Different Drilling Depths of the South China Sea

Yanghui Li, Tingting Luo, Xiang Sun, Weiguo Liu, Qingping Li, Yuanping Li and Yongchen Song
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Yanghui Li: Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Tingting Luo: Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Xiang Sun: Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Weiguo Liu: Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Qingping Li: China National Offshore Oil Corporation, Beijing 100010, China
Yuanping Li: China National Offshore Oil Corporation, Shenzhen 518068, China
Yongchen Song: Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: The mechanical behaviors of hydrate-bearing marine sediments (HBMS) drilled from the seafloor need to be understood in order to safely exploit natural gas from marine hydrate reservoirs. In this study, hydrates were prepared using ice powder and CH 4 gas, and HBMS from the Shenhu area in the South China Sea were remolded using a mixed sample preparation method. A series of triaxial tests were conducted on the remolded HBMS to investigate the effects of soil particle gradation and the existence of hydrate on the mechanical properties of hydrate reservoirs. The results show that the stiffness and failure strength of HBMS decrease along with the decrease of mean particle size and soil aggregate morphology change at different drilling depths, and the reduction of failure strength is more than 20% when the drilling depth drops by 30 m. A better particle gradation of marine sediments may boost the stiffness and failure strength of HBMS. In addition, the existence of hydrate plays an important role in the strength behaviors of HBMS. The reduction of failure strength of HBMS with 30% initial hydrate saturation is more than 35% after complete hydrate dissociation.

Keywords: hydrate-bearing marine sediments; South China Sea; failure strength; soil particle gradation; existence of hydrate; hydrate dissociation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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